Rockets' Pat Beverley plays through the pain of losing his grandfather

1 / 120

Back to Gallery

Rockets guard Pat Beverley played in pain on Sunday, mourning the passing of his grandfather Rheese Morris, with his emotions, as always, raw and clear to see.

After sobbing on the court and in the locker room before the game, he had the game's first basket, then patted his heart and pointed upwards after.

"I talked to my first cousins, all my family back home in Chicago," Beverley said through tears. "Everybody wanted me to play tonight. I was going to try to get on the next flight. I'm really a strong guy. I can deal with a lot of things. But I can't deal with anybody suffering. He suffered. He's in a better place now."

Beverley had 10 points and a career-playoff high six assists in 26 minutes. He called his grandfather "the man of the family" and said he raised him as one of nine cousins and siblings.

"I tried to go out there and play as hard as I could for my teammates tonight, man," Beverley said. "Just to be there for my grandmother. I had to be there for my mom, be there for my cousins back home in Chicago. It's tough, man. It's just tough, so tough.

"Everybody knows I work so extremely hard to prove myself each and every night. To have somebody who was right there supporting me the whole way, he wore my jerseys every single day of his life, wore my Russian jersey every single day of his life, man. To have a person like that taken from you it's hard, so hard."

When the game ended, Rockets forward Ryan Anderson, who is especially close with Beverley, gave his friend and teammate a long hug.

"Life hands us some tough things that are so much more important than this game," Anderson said. "I think Pat realizes that. He and his family have a ton of faith in God. It's just tough. Those are moments you have to take a step back, especially when it happens to somebody you're close to. Emotionally, that's even more important than a playoff game.

"He locked in like you expected and played his heart out."

That did not make the day any easier, though Beverley said he would again rely on his faith.

"There's a bigger plan," he said. "I'm going to keep my faith, of course. I'm going to be there for my family. Anyone who passed ... to have them taken away, it's super hard.